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the soviet
constitutions (1917?993) |
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the
constitution of the russian soviet federative socialist republic
(rsfsr) of 1918, adopted at the fifth all-russian congress of the
soviets on july 10, 1918, was very noticeably class-based in
character. it reflected the slogans proclaimed by the bolsheviks as
they prepared the way for and carried out the 1917 coup. all power
was given to the soviets, private land ownership was abolished and
certain social groups had their political rights restricted.
the constitution抯 authors did away with virtually all the
democratic principles of the representative system of power that had
been developed by that time. the new constitution gave no place
whatsoever to parliamentary institutions, an accountable government,
recognition of opposition rights, the rule of law and so on. the
issue of overstepping or abusing authority had not even been raised,
and so the principle of division of powers was deemed superfluous.
in 1924, following the formation of the ussr, the soviet
constitution was adopted. this constitution reproduced in large part
the provisions of the 1918 constitution. in accordance with the
provisions of the 1924 soviet constitution, a new draft of the rsfsr
constitution was adopted in 1925. this new constitution, unlike the
previous version, no longer contained provisions about crushing the
exploiter classes and pursuing world revolution. one of the main
issues it dealt with was the delimitation of powers between the
soviet authorities and the rsfsr.
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on december 5, 1936, the viii extraordinary congress of the ussr
soviets adopted a new constitution that aimed to strengthen the
foundations of socialism and lay the basic guidelines for further
work on building communism. in particular, the new constitution
cemented the principle of the communist party抯 leading role. the
constitution also set out the basic economic principles of
socialism: the abolition of private property, the predominance of
the socialist economic system and socialist ownership of the means
of production, and the establishment of state economic planning that
would determine the country抯 entire economic life.
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one of the 1936 constitution抯 major objectives was to act as the
democratic facade for soviet power. thus, the constitution contained
some elements of a division of powers based on a declarative
independence of the soviet 損arliament? government and judicial
system from each other. the constitution moved away from the earlier
restrictions of political rights for certain groups and proclaimed
equality of rights for all citizens. for the first time in the
history of the soviet state, the constitution referred to political
and individual rights and freedoms and socio-economic rights.
unfortunately, these constitutional provisions were not reflected in
the country抯 life. moreover, the adoption of the 1936 soviet
constitution and the new rsfsr constitution, adopted on january 21,
1937, coincided with a new and ruthless wave of stalinist
repression. among the particularities of the 1937 rsfsr constitution
were provisions establishing the right of the rsfsr to withdraw from
the soviet union.
the construction of a new communist society did not proceed as
rapidly as had been hoped and these delays were reflected in a new
soviet constitution proclaiming the construction of a 揹eveloped
socialist society.?the constitution was adopted by the ussr supreme
soviet on october 7, 1977. it went even further in extending soviet
citizens?rights and freedoms, in particular, enshrining the right
to housing and to healthcare.
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this seeming development of civil rights
and liberties in the soviet union had little in common with international
standards, however, for it was still completely subject to the aims of
揵uilding communism?under the control of a totalitarian state headed by the
soviet communist party, which in accordance with article six of the soviet
constitution and article six of the rsfsr constitution of april 12, 1978,
was the 搇eading and guiding force in soviet society and the core of its
political system and state and public organisations? the basis for the
soviet communist party抯 existence as enshrined in the constitution was that
it 揺xists for the people and serves the people?
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over the fifteen years of its existence, the 1978 rsfsr constitution
underwent radical transformation that concerned not just individual
provisions but the document抯 very essence. beginning in the second
half of the 1980s, the constitution reflected a gradual renunciation
of building communism, the leading role of the communist party and
the soviet system. at the same time, it began to give greater
priority to human rights, private property and the principle of
division of powers. in 1991, the post of president was introduced in
russia. the declaration of human rights and civil liberties in the
russian federation, adopted on november 22, 1991, was incorporated
into the constitution. new opportunities arose to freely create
political parties and public organisations and all this had a
significant impact on the country抯 political life.
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the
constitutional process |
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